I'd Choose You
by cristeal
Summary: Annabeth cannot miss the social event of the year: her ex-boyfriend Luke Castellan's wedding. When she needs a date to keep up appearances, she calls her best friend since high school, Percy Jackson. Although Annabeth meant no romance when she asked Percy to attend with her, will a turn in events make their masquerade become a reality?
1. Chapter 1

As Annabeth entered the luscious hotel, she witnessed the array of activities that defined such a place. It was bustling with people-angry businessmen spoke in hushed voices on their cell phones, children bounded from the elevator dressed in expensive coordinating outfits bearing the names of famous designers, and couples excessively were sharing public displays of affection- to the point that Annabeth wanted to burst. There was a lingering fragrance of expensive perfume, the starched smell of new one hundred dollar bills, and the aroma of freshly pressed suits. The aromas caused Annabeth to remember the troubles she faced when these smells enveloped her life.

"My apologies ma'am, but your reservation appears to be for one room. Are you sure the correct reservation isn't under a different name?" the man behind the counter said handing her the single room key while he answered the phone that had not ceased ringing since Annabeth arrived. Reality began to flood her senses as she focused on the situation at hand, and she sighed deeply.

"Could you possibly check under Annabeth Chase?" She said patiently, trying not to let her annoyance seep into her words. Something was bound to go wrong, and this may as well be it. The situation had seemed all too perfect when Percy agreed to her preposterous plan; she was thoroughly convinced that there was no way that it could succeed gracefully.

"I'm terribly sorry, but there aren't any reservations under Annabeth Chase." The concierge replied mechanically, just as any man in his profession was expected to.

Internally, Annabeth scolded herself for panicking; she could simply book another room. It would be harder to act like Percy was her devout boyfriend whom she was deeply in love with if their rooms were across the hotel, but the trouble of distant rooms was better than showing up to Luke's extravagant wedding without a date. Annabeth knew she didn't have the confidence to face Luke alone, considering the fact that this was his wedding. "Is it possible to-"

"Hey, Annabeth!" Luke approached her, smiling while embracing her in his familiar arms. Annabeth's body immediately stiffened, recognizing the feeling and the memories associated with his touch, and she had to consciously stop herself from recoiling. "How are you?"

"I'm doing fine, Luke." Annabeth said politely. She feigned interest when she added, "How's Cassandra?" She hoped Luke didn't notice the way she spat out the name, trying to rid her mouth of the taste of a word that brought up so much hurt.

"Cassandra is great, but she's expecting me to meet her for dinner at five, and I am already running a bit late, but it was a pleasure to see you again!" He walked toward the hotel's restaurant, leaving Annabeth alone.

Turning her attention back to the man behind the polished countertop, Annabeth considered how she was going to fix the trouble of the lack of a second room. The concierge, or Baxter, as his nametag promptly stated, was busy chatting with an elderly couple, completely ignoring Annabeth's troubles. Before Annabeth could interrupt the collection of pinstripes that comprised Baxter, she was enveloped in a pair of muscular, tan arms that smelled vaguely of chlorine.

"Guess who?" a smoky voice behind her taunted-wait, smoky? The voice was deeper than what she had remembered, which was probably the fault of time. Annabeth jolted at the thought of his now raspy, deep voice and confident demeanor compared to his previously scrawny voice of a pipsqueak.

"You stink," Annabeth replied, poking the familiar body standing beside her. "C'mon, let's go upstairs, I have your room key. I don't want to put on the show out here for much longer." She turned around to look at him, and let her eyes really wander for the first time in years. Her stormy eyes met his sea green orbs, but her gaze fluttered away before she could acknowledge his. His skin was tan, darkened by the countless hours spent under the sun, in the water. His form was much taller than she remembered, and his shoulders were broader. Taking in his muscular arms, strong and sharp jawline, and slim figure, Annabeth realized he had developed tremendously from a scrawny boy into a- dare she say it- man. Puberty has obviously done Jackson well.

The silence of the elevator ride to his room was comfortable. The aroma of freshly shampooed carpet filled the elevator, which helped distract Annabeth from Percy's presence. Her senses seemed to heighten around him, and his scent enveloped her. Annabeth blamed it on the fact that she had not been around him in what felt like an eternity. He wasn't up to date with all the woes of her life, but sharing was an action Annabeth was not willing to partake in currently, and she knew Percy could tell. He gave her space, and for that Annabeth was grateful. There were things Annabeth didn't want to admit to herself, let alone a perceptive individual such as Perseus Jackson.


	2. Chapter 2

Annabeth pulled out the plastic keycard and opened the door to his room. Percy pulled her inside and put his arms on her shoulders, looking at her directly, holding her in place with his arms and an intense gaze. "Annabeth, what's wrong? You have barely said a thing to me since I arrived. Besides, you never really explained what I'm doing here."

"Luke's getting married." Annabeth stated this as if the words held the answer to the universe, as if saying them slower would give them more meaning.

"Thank you for that valuable, ground-breaking piece of information," Percy said, meeting her snarky answer with an eye roll, smirk, and a witty comment of his own.

"I have to go the the wedding."

"Why? You're his ex-girlfriend." Percy said dryly, then directed his gaze to his shoes. He irrationally despised the pairing that was Luke and Annabeth, but he remained the supportive friend. Besides, it was much easier to be comfortable with your best friend dating someone who didn't deserve her while you were thousands of miles away from said couple.

"My parents are coming," Annabeth said bitterly. Percy knew about the strained relationship Annabeth had with her parents, and how Annabeth's family operated. To them, it didn't matter what was going on behind the scenes, as long as everything appeared to be fine for the final bow.

"Ok, fine. You have to go to Luke's wedding. But why am _I_ needed here?"

"I can't show up _alone_ to Luke's _wedding_."

"Why not? What happened when you guys broke up?"

"Is that relevant, Percy?"

"Unless you have another valid explanation for needing me here, it most definitely matters."

"Look, I just need you, okay?" Percy could sense Annabeth's desperation and vulnerability; they seemed to drip from her words.

"I understand." Percy wasn't going to push her beyond her limit, since he knew Annabeth was only comfortable with so much. He would be there for her, by her side, whether she was ready or not.

Annabeth turned to walk out of Percy's room. She hadn't hung out with him in years and she didn't want to him to see her as an emotional mess. She didn't want to be portrayed as a trainwreck of a girl whose life was off the rails. This wasn't who she was; this was what Luke had made her become.

"Where do you think you're going?" Percy asked as he flopped on to the bed and switched on the television, making himself right at home.

"I'm going to my room to read, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth retorted.

"You used to be able to read around me. Besides, I haven't seen you since high school." Annabeth had missed Percy's sass, almost as much as she had missed him.

"That's not true."

"You know it is."

"We video chatted, Snapchatted, texted, _and_ called each other."

"You're right, but I haven't _seen_ you since high school. And that isn't anywhere near the same as seeing you almost every day of the week for at least a class period. Come talk to me." Percy patted the space next to him on the down comforter that covered the bed.

"So who is he marrying anyway? I should at least be well informed if I'm going to attend this thing," Percy turned to Annabeth, as if he was asking her why she hadn't joined him on the bed.

Annabeth sat on the edge of the bed, facing Percy, "Well, she's some society girl. I don't really know her that well." The things Annabeth did know about her wouldn't have been any use to Percy. She knew the scent of her perfume on Luke's clothes and the shade of the faded smudge of her lipstick on his cheek.

Percy snorted, "How original, a society girl. From what I've gathered from the functions you've dragged me to, that doesn't seem to point out anything unique about her personality."

Annabeth shrugged, "Well what do you want me to tell you? I haven't actually talked to her before, we're not friends." That wasn't entirely true. Annabeth had talked to her before, but that certainly didn't make them friends- acquaintances, maybe.

"C'mon, I know you know something. Have I seen her before?"

Annabeth threw her arms in the air in indignation and flopped backwards on the bed, landing on Percy's chest, "Oof, sorry." Annabeth blushed and sat back up.

"No worries," Percy immediately replied, a little flushed, "Anyway, go on."

"No, Percy I don't think so….Actually, I don't know, maybe?...Wait, yes!" and scooted on to the bed so that she was lying next to Percy on her stomach, her head propped up by her hands, "Okay, remember my graduation party? I think she was there. She has short brown hair and blue eyes."

"Was she the girl wrapped around her boyfriend the entire time?"

"Nope, that was Silena, and she doesn't even have brown hair." After that party, Annabeth's mother refused to invite Silena to their house again unless she swore a vow of celibacy. Athena claimed that there was not a more scandalous thing that had ever occurred on the balcony of the east wing.

"The girl that kept trying to pay the bartender after too much champagne?"

"No, sounds like Miranda though." Annabeth recalls Athena blaming Miranda's actions on the fact that her family's wealth was only three generations old and as a result Miranda didn't learn the proper etiquette.

Percy paused before exclaiming "Okay, okay, I got it: the girl that insisted on taking a picture with you every time she saw you."

"Oh no, that was Drew. She's always been like that."

"I give up! How do you remember who all of these girls are but you can't give me more of an explanation on Luke's finaceé than her hair and eye color?!"

"Cassandra. Her name is Cassandra." Trying to think of a proper way to describe Cassandra made Annabeth reflect upon how Cassandra seemed to invade her and Luke's life, and the pain must have been mirrored on her face because Percy dropped the subject.

"So, Annabeth, wasn't your graduation party when Jason dared you to tell you mom you were eloping with Frank? I can still hear the wedding bells!"

Annabeth exclaimed, "Percy!" and promptly hit him with a pillow.

They had talked for hours, and when they had run out of things to say, Annabeth turned to her book and Percy turned to the hotel television that happened to be stocked with a wide variety of channels. He loved catching up with the captivating personality that was Annabeth Chase; they had talked about old friends, new friends, college classes, and their new favorite Starbucks drinks. They had talked about everything yet nothing at all. She had ended up sitting criss-cross at the head of the bed with Percy's head in her lap, his figure stretched out across the queen-sized bed. He had forgotten how beautiful she was and how concentrated she became while she read.

Annabeth flipped the page and checked the time. "Crap, Percy, it's nine-thirty. I should go. I need to get some sleep if we want to do anything tomorrow." Even though the wedding was on Sunday, most of the guests, including Annabeth and Percy, had arrived Friday.

"Okay." Percy wasn't happy Annabeth was leaving, but he wasn't going to hold her hostage. He got up so that she could leave, while she searched her purse for her room key.

"My bag is usually so organized…how is this possible? I can't find it. It's as if I don't even have it." Annabeth dumped the contents of her bag onto the bed and rummaged through them. Percy darted his eyes to the floor; his mother had once told him to never look inside a lady's bag.

Annabeth suddenly looked up with wide eyed, "Percy, I just remembered something."

"The room key is in your suitcase, isn't it?" Percy questioned hopefully.

"I don't have a room key. The reservation was screwed up, we only got one room."


	3. Chapter 3

_Author Note: Hey guys, this is Cristina. I just wanted to let everybody know that this chapter is a little longer than the other ones because I will not be able to update next week; I am going to be out of town. Anyway, I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter and I'd love to hear from you if you have any comments, please review or message me at cristeal on tumblr._

"Don't worry, Annabeth, we can share the room. Nothing will ruin this weekend for you, I promise."

"But there's only one bed?" Annabeth blushed at the thought of sharing a bed with Percy. She told herself it was because her brain had malfunctioned. Maybe it thought they were still both hormonal teenagers with too many feelings, but Annabeth wasn't sure that was the reason her heart started thumping faster.

"Well, then I guess we'll have to share that too." Percy's cocky grin snuck on to his face, reminding Annabeth of just another feature she had missed dearly. His face grew a little more serious when he added, "I can sleep on the floor if necessary."

"Was this your plan all along? Sabotage the reservations to get me into your bed?" Annabeth said cockily, ignoring her own embarrassment and the latter suggestion. She noticed that her comment made Percy's cheeks heat up. She loved that she still had the power to top his remarks with her own. She bravely continued by adding, "I wouldn't make you sleep on the floor anyhow, that's got to be terrible for your back."

" _Annabeth_. Fine then, we can share a bed, as friends, I promise. No funny business. Besides, it's not like we haven't had sleepovers before."

"We were ten!"

"What about the week before finals, sophomore year?"

"It was just a nap! You were supposed to wake me up!" Annabeth remembered that night. She remembered waking up in Percy's bed, confused, but too groggy to make anything of it.

"Sorry about that. You just looked so peaceful, and you were stressing so much that day." Percy apologized, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced toward the floor.

"Fine. I'm going to change into my pajamas." Annabeth turned around to look for her suitcase, "Where is my suitcase? I thought they said they would bring them to your room?" Annabeth sighed, "I really _do not_ want to sleep in this."

"Don't worry, I'm sure we can split up my pair of pajamas."

"You didn't bring two?"

"I wanted to save space, besides, I'm only here for three nights," Percy shrugged, "Here, you can have the shirt. It should be pretty long on you."

Annabeth walked into the tiny hotel bathroom to change into his shirt, which thankfully, covered her butt. It was also baggy enough that Annabeth could take off her bra without exposing too much of her chest, a fact Annabeth appreciated.

Percy wore the flannel pajama pants without a shirt, which was something Annabeth could not complain about. His biceps and abdominal muscles were toned from swimming year-round, and they were on display just for Annabeth. A little bit of eye candy never hurt a girl, right?

She was wearing one of Percy's old t-shirts, and he thought she looked way better in it than Percy ever did. Percy tried to avoid creepily staring at the way the sleeve slipped off her left shoulder revealing her smooth, supple skin. He also attempted not to look at the floor because he learned it resulted in glancing at her feet, which led his eyes to her long, tan legs.

Annabeth had forced Percy to go to sleep. She claimed that she was tired and would not stand for the television's noise or light, and muttered something about blue light from it affecting the depth of sleep. Percy was not used to going to bed this early, being the star of the swim team while balancing actual classes (unlike some of his teammates) had forced him to get used to long nights and early mornings. He crawled into his side of the bed and passed out.

However, Annabeth was not so lucky. Although she had insisted on their sleep, she was having trouble letting her mind drift off into a serene slumber. Her mind did crazy things when their feet touched. Her heart flipped and spun in spirals. The seconds of contact brought back memories to her mind and reminded her of teenage thoughts she had blamed on hormones. Eventually, Annabeth managed to curl up as far from Percy as possible and fall asleep to the steady, stable rhythm of his breathing. She hoped that maybe her brain would finally rest.

When he awoke, he was spooning her, which was most definitely a surprise. Unless his memory deceived him, they had both fallen asleep with some physical distance separating them. His arm was draped across her figure, trapping her with his body. Morning swim practice had forced his body to have an internal clock that rang at five AM, and it hadn't been a problem until now. He knew Annabeth felt nothing for him, and that it was a line he shouldn't have crossed (even though he wasn't exactly aware he was crossing it). Percy decided he should pull away before she woke up and realized what he had done. He only got his arm to move an inch before she stirred.

Thankfully, she didn't wake up. What she did do was snuggle further into him, intertwining their feet, making it even harder for Percy to sneak away. If he wanted to get up now, he ran an increased risk of waking her up. If she woke up in this position, Percy could not imagine how awkward it would be. One thing was for sure, he'd have to do a lot of apologizing. He decided that it was a lost cause, and that he could always use her snuggling as an excuse if she asked, and he fell back asleep.

Annabeth woke up in his embrace. She assumed that it was a mistake, a result of habit or idle dreaming, and managed to sneak away without waking him up. While she was getting out of bed, she noticed how his shirt had bunched up on her body, rising above her waist. His arm was draped across her bare stomach. As she left the bed she tried not to think too much about it, especially the fact that the compromising position had left an unflattering pair of underwear visible . Annabeth showered, changed into yesterday's clothing, and made her way downstairs to fight for her luggage.

Getting the luggage from the hotel's staff was easier than expected, so she used her extra time to change and drop off her luggage in the room. She then headed to the pristine gym. As she shoved her suitcase into the closet, all she wanted to do was avoid thinking about what had occurred in that room with Percy. She hoped that she could run some of her mixed-up thoughts and pent-up energy off.

Percy walked out of the bathroom after his shower to face a pair of yoga pants staring at him, "I assumed you were out?" Percy asked. Annabeth was bending over, rummaging through her suitcase.

She turned around, to find him clothed in nothing but a towel, "Crap. Sorry. I assumed you would be in the shower longer. I was just getting some stuff. I need to change, I stink. I'll be out of here in a second."

"Don't worry about it. You don't need to rush out." Percy said, "You can change in the bathroom, and I'll change out here." He didn't want to ask if she had woken up with his arms still around her, but he couldn't just ignore the previous night, "Did you sleep well last night?"

She blushed, and that was it. She definitely woke up while his arms were still around her. "Fine."

She grabbed her clothes and headed to the bathroom, "I'm going to go change."

Percy watched the bathroom door close, then turned around and dropped his towel. He pulled on a clean shirt and turned back towards the bathroom to look for his boxers and pants to see Annabeth pop out of the bathroom and lunge for her suitcase.

She turned to see him, with nothing but a cotton t-shirt on, and yelped, "Sorry! I just forgot to grab my deodorant! I'm so sorry!" She retreated into the bathroom more quickly than she had emerged.

"Percy? Are you fully clothed?" Annabeth yelled from inside the bathroom, not wanting to repeat her initial mistake.

"It's safe to come out, Annabeth." Percy laughed.

"Sorry about that." Annabeth said, unable to meet his eyes.

"It's okay."

"So, what do you want to do today? I heard there's an exhibit currently at the Metropolitan featuring Renaissance paintings, and Malcolm said it's super interesting." Annabeth spoke rapidly.

"Yeah, okay. That sounds cool." Percy nodded along half-heartedly

"Or we could do something that actually interests the both of us," Annabeth added, sensing Percy's disinterest.

"That sounds cooler. But you know I'd totally do it with you, go to the museum, I mean." Unless Annabeth's head was in the gutter, Percy's cheeks seemed to heat up a little.

"I could show you around the city. There have been a few changes since you were last here."

"Percy, I was here during winter break-"

"Well it's been awhile since you were in the city _with me_. Besides, I am a fabulous tour guide!"


	4. Chapter 4

The tour had gone better than imagined. Annabeth was enchanted by the new crazy food carts that had popped up around town, and she was delighted by the almost Banksy-esque graffiti that Percy had discovered a few weeks prior to her visit. They visited central park so she could take interest in the new sculpture exhibit that was on loan while Percy took selfies with the sculptures that appeared to be people. While they were walking back to the hotel, they bought ice cream from a vendor Percy knew carried lemon, Annabeth's favorite.

"I knew this would be way better than the met." Percy said before taking a bite out of his cone. He had demolished two giant scoops of ice cream in what seemed like record time and was now finishing off the chocolate-dipped waffle cone.

"Earlier you said you'd be happy to go with me!" Annabeth chimed after taking a well calculated lick off the side of her almost-dripping pile of yellow ice cream.

"I would! It's just-" Percy turned to look at Annabeth and noticed a smudge of ice cream on her cheek, "wait, hold on you've got something on your cheek"

Annabeth rubbed the incorrect cheek, much to Percy's amusement. He wondered how she couldn't sense the drip of cool, sticky, sugary-sweet ice cream that was racing down her cheek.

"No, the other cheek."

While this time she was on the correct cheek, Annabeth still completely missed the spot of ice cream. Percy decided to take matters into his own hands so he licked his finger and reached for her cheek. In the middle of what seemed like the helpful and friendly thing to do, Percy felt Annabeth's eyes staring at him. His cheeks grew red, and so did hers. He wondered if wetting his finger by licking it was purely unsanitary and inappropriate and something only gross old grandmothers did. Percy didn't exactly know; he never had old grandmothers to hang out with. But, Percy was never one to quit, so he followed through and wiped the smudge off her cheek.

While Annabeth was a little embarrassed that she had gotten ice cream on her cheek and Percy managed to remain free of bright blue cotton candy ice cream AND rainbow sprinkles, she definitely found what just occurred to be a tad bit strange. Percy was definitely weirded out or embarrassed too, so they continued their walk in silence. Annabeth thought it was a bit of a boyfriend move, but she couldn't trust herself to draw that conclusion. It definitely wasn't something Luke would have done.

Eventually, they arrived at the hotel and made their way up to the room. Annabeth was kind of glad that Percy didn't bring up their joint room mistake while they walked passed the lobby; she may not have wanted to admit it to herself but she was secretly happy to be spending so much time with him.

"We should totally watch a movie." Percy poked Annabeth's side, trying to lighten the mood.

"Okay." Percy saw Annabeth's muscles relax. He saw her eyes go elsewhere, and he imagined the gears starting to turn in her brain. His suggestion had given her a task, something for her brain to do besides overthink everything. Percy knew exactly what she needed.

"We could watch one of those historical movies!" She exclaimed, "Y'know, the ones that take place during a dramatic and historically significant event. They have plenty of action to keep you interested-wars or fights or duels-and they fill the audience in on all of the historical details so you won't be lost."

"They fill the audience in on the boring stuff?" Percy wasn't set on the idea of a nerd movie.

"Affirmative."

"So there will be times where they're just talking about boring stuff- like stuff to read on the screen or monotonous narrations..." He had a feeling that he knew where this was going.

"Well when you put it that way-"

Percy shook his head. "Veto."

Annabeth shoved his shoulder instinctively. "You can't veto! We never discussed vetoing terms or powers!"

"I get to veto bad ideas. There, we discussed it." Percy smiled. Annabeth was kind of cute when she was worked up. She got all excited and started to talk with her hands- and Percy didn't even want to think about how adorable it was when her forehead scrunched up and the tendrils of her curls started to bounce with excitement. Percy could lie to himself and say all girls were cute when they were worked up, but not all girls were cute when they were worked up. At least, nowhere near as cute as Annabeth.

"No. We each get one veto. And you already used yours, so that makes me the deciding factor on what movie we watch."

"Fine by me. Besides, I have a better idea; we could watch an action movie. Sometimes the villains are super-geniuses or psychopaths or whatever." Percy turned to see Annabeth's face. She didn't even hesitate before she spoke.

"Veto. And this is besides the point, but, sociopaths tend to be more interesting."

"C'mon! Some of them even have romance!" Percy flopped backwards on the bed, leaving Annabeth sitting on the edge.

Annabeth snorted, "You mean sloppy, unnecessary romantic subplot that usually does a great job of demeaning women?"

"Annabeth," Percy groaned and covered his face, "Fine. If we're not watching an action movie or a nerd movie-"

"Historical drama." Annabeth interrupted

"Whatever! If we're not watching either of those than we have to watch a comedy or a chick flick." Percy knew he had her cornered "And you think most comedies are dumb-"

"And you think most chick flicks are stupid." Annabeth flopped backwards next to him. "Well what are we going to do now?"


End file.
